Which to use
“soles” and “sous” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,480
- “soles” frequency rank
- #48,705
- “sous” frequency rank
- 61185
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | soles | sous |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ojos hermosos. | Forma del plural de sou. |
Where the eye mixes soles and sous
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. soles runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against sous's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses soles with sous
A purely visual mix-up. soles ([ˈsoles]) and sous ([ˈsows]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61185, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
soles is recorded at frequency rank #12,480, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈsoles]. sous is at rank #48,705, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈsows].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 61185, this pair ranks #56,349 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of soles vs sous
Shared letters: os. Private to "soles": el. Private to "sous": u.
"soles" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "sous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "soles" for "sous" ever safe?
Which is more common, "soles" or "sous"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "soles" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sous" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #56,349 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "soles" and "sous" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sous vs Susa". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #56,349 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.